Obtaining documents from the U.S. National Archives

[Dargor]

Hello, everyone; I am conducting research on some German WWII weapons. I would like to obtain documents from the American National Archives, however their digital copies are not available. Is there any way I could ask for a copy if I am not from the U.S. and I am not able to visit the archives in person? An example of one of the documents I am looking for is this one:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7517641

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[quellish]

Hello, everyone; I am conducting research on some German WWII weapons. I would like to obtain documents from the American National Archives, however their digital copies are not available. Is there any way I could ask for a copy if I am not from the U.S. and I am not able to visit the archives in person? An example of one of the documents I am looking for is this one:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7517641

Thank you for your assistance.

It is pretty easy to get copies of documents from NARA even if you are outside the US or unable to visit NARA in person.

On the catalog page you linked to, scroll down. You will see a table under "Archived Copy". In your case it lists the document as residing at College Park. Use the email address listed there to send them an email asking for a copy of the document. Include the title, catalog number, and a link to the public catalog page. NARA will respond with an estimate for the cost of providing the record (it may take a few weeks to get a response). If you want to proceed they will give you the steps needed to move forward (pay for the cost of reproduction, etc.).

 

[Dargor]

Great, thank you! I will defenetely reach out and see if they respond.

 

[F-2]

Great, thank you! I will defenetely reach out and see if they respond.

Let me know how it goes. I’m probably going to have to go in person for something and I’m curious how they are to deal with.

 

[quellish]

Let me know how it goes. I’m probably going to have to go in person for something and I’m curious how they are to deal with.

In my experience they are very easy to deal with over email. I have obtained a number of documents from them by ordering through the catalog.

In a couple of instances they could not provide it through an online order and suggested FOIA (because the records contained information that had to be reviewed). I sent them a FOIA request and they reviewed and provided the documents.